The invention relates to an apparatus for application of an electrode system (or array) on a patient's body, in particular for application of a multiple electrode for interference current therapy which exhibits a flexible formed part comprised of electrically insulating plastic as the support of individual electrode contact parts, whereby a carrier for a contacting agent, such as liquid-absorbent paper, fleece material, or the like, can be placed between the contact part and the application location on the patient's body.
For an effective stimulation current therapy, additional contacting agents are necessary between the electrodes and the skin at the application location of the patient's body. Such contacting agents, in the simplest instance, can be sponge members capable of absorbing contact fluid which, due to their softness, cling (or adhere) well to the body part to be treated. Also thin absorbent papers, fleece materials, or the like, have proven suitable for this purpose, which merely need to moistened with water in order to establish the electrical contact. The design of such supports for contacting agents for the purpose of reducing the contact resistance: electrode-skin in the case of simple electrodes and multiple electrodes is, for example, specifically described in the U.S. patent application Ser. No. 930,062, now abandoned, in conjunction with electrode contact parts comprised of conductive foam plastics. In practice, however, for stimulation current therapy, the conventional electrode systems are presently being placed in inserts consisting of viscose-sponge, whereby the entire insert likewise serves as carrier for the contact fluid and as support-mounting for the electrodes. Such viscose-sponge pockets, however, have a series of disadvantages. On the one hand, the mechanical strength (or stability) of the sponge members as a whole is comparatively low, whereby there additionally results, due to the shrinkage upon drying, a poor accuracy as to size of the processed viscose-sponge. Upon drying such sponge members also become hard, as a consequence of which, in the dry state, the hard sponge body can easily break.